70 



entirely of the latter colour, the shafts distinctly indicated ; tail slaty grey, the shafts of the two 

 middle feathers brown, those of the rest rufous, all but the two central rectrices barred on the inner 

 web and tipped with ferruginous ; under surface of the body creamy white, everywhere tinged with 

 rufous, the entire throat unspotted, the breast covered with very distinct longitudinal black markings, 

 more thickly distributed on the flanks ; the axillary plumes transversely barred with buffy white and 

 dark brown; lower part of the abdomen, leg-feathers, and under tail-coverts rich rust-red; under wing- 

 coverts buffy white, longitudinally marked with black; bill light blue-black at the point, yellow at base; 

 cere yellow; bare space round the eye yellow; legs yellow; claws black; iris brown. Total length 11 "6 

 inches, culm. - 7, wing 1O0, tail 6'0, tarsus l'l. 



Adult Female. Exactly similar to the adult male, but much larger, and not so richly coloured on the 

 cheeks, nuchal patch, and throat ; the breast is more thickly covered with black stripes than in the 

 male ; the leg-feathers and under tail-coverts marked with longitudinal brown shaft-stripes ; the under 

 wing-coverts thickly mottled with black and white, as also are the axillary plumes, which are covered 

 with little round spots. Total length 12'5 inches, culm. 07, wing 10 - 8, tail 6"2, tarsus T25. 



Young Male. Above brown, the head mottled, and all the other feathers on the upper surface edged with 

 fulvous, which becomes rufous on the lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts; quills 

 blackish, the primaries edged with fulvous, the secondaries more broadly; tail greyish brown, the 

 middle feathers indistinctly waved with blackish, all the other feathers more or less distinctly barred 

 with rufous and tipped with fulvous ; the forehead and back of the neck fulvescent, the latter indicating 

 an indistinct nuchal band ; feathers in front of and below the eye and ear-coverts, as well as a mous- 

 tachial stripe, brownish black ; cheeks, sides of the neck, throat, and upper part of the breast fulvous 

 white ; breast fulvous white, blotched all over with brown, becoming striped on the flanks and lower 

 breast ; lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts fulvous, the thighs rather inclining to rufous, 

 with a few longitudinal brown markings on the outside of the leg ; under wing-coverts fulvous white, 

 barred transversely with brown. 



Another young specimen, preserved (like the former) in Messrs. Salvin and Godman's collection, is apparently 

 somewhat older, and is greyish black above, with a few faint markings on the feathers of the back, 

 more distinct on the rump, where, however, there is none of the rufous tinge noticed in the foregoing 

 example ; the head is blackish brown, with very narrow obsolete fulvous edgings to the feathers ; the 

 wing-coverts coloured exactly like the back ; quills blackish, the secondaries tinged with grey, all the 

 feathers tipped with fulvous ; tail greyish above, differing from that of the previously described bird in 

 being all grey, thus showing that this colour is gradually assumed in the young bird without a moult, 

 as the other example had just a tinge of grey appearing irregularly on the centre tail-feathers; all the 

 rectrices, except the two centre ones, barred with rufous and tipped with fulvous ; the lores and eye- 

 brows fulvous, but not so distinctly marked as in the younger specimen; on the other hand the nuchal 

 band is more clearly indicated ; sides of the neck, throat, and abdomen fulvous white, almost buff; the 

 rest of the under surface of the body of the same colour, but very broadly and distinctly streaked with 

 black; thighs inclining to rufous, with a few little black streaks, as also are the under tail- coverts ; 

 under wing-coverts strongly mottled with fulvous and black. 



The range of the Hobby appears to extend over the entire Palsearctic Region, from the extreme 

 west to the far east. It is more common in the southern countries of Europe, becoming gra- 

 dually rarer in Siberia, until in the far east of Asia it only occurs as an occasional migrant. 

 Like the Kestrel it seems to be an unsettled species, though not sedentary in so many localities 



